


The Symbol of Rebirth

by Merfilly



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Character Death Fix, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-11-05
Updated: 2006-11-05
Packaged: 2017-12-05 00:54:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/717013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A man is returned to the lands of life</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Symbol of Rebirth

The man walked slowly along the road, coming at last to the small spot, a nondescript plot of land in the middle of a barren wasteland. He bent down, picking away the sand from a small blue object.

"Well, that answers that question for me." The man straightened, his long coat folding neatly around him, his hat shading the scarab he had found. "Such an affinity for the desert. Is that why you chose to protect him? The child of the lifeless suburban sprawl that he is? Worker in grains of silicon?" He ran a gloved finger over the blue form. "Well, let the others think of the boy as the inheritor. We know better, don't we?"

He began to walk again, until he simply was not present.

`~`~`~`~`

Didi sighed softly as she walked over to her long time guest. He was tinkering away, very content to be here now; they had a solid friendship. Now, though, it was time to put an end to the association. No longer would she have his help filtering the various guests to their proper destinations.

Her black, fingerless glove touched his shoulder, and he turned, meeting her black eyes with a puzzled smile.

"It's time, Ted." Her voice betrayed just a hint of sadness; he truly had been a delight to have, almost literally, as he had brought Delirium to the brink of sanity with his jokes to her.

"I see." He put his tools down, turning toward the door that led to just rewards. Only her hands caught his shoulders, turning him the other way, to the door most people came in through. "You're kidding. Me?!"

"I told you." She smiled at him, leaning up to kiss his cheek, which made him touch the spot gently. His eyes grew stormy.

"I won't remember this?" he asked her, hating that he had to lose the peace she had given him. She shook her head, then shrugged.

"Perhaps Brother Dream will let you have sleeping memory of me," she answered, before being swept up into one of his impulsive hugs.

"I hope so, Didi."

`~`~`~`~`

"Its magic is bound to the Rock and yet not," the young Wizard told him.

"This I already know, Billy." The Stranger set the blue stone scarab down in the center of the Rock, watching as it was infused with power. "I can also see that is has survived the rebirth of magic with its own powers intact."

"The Wizard saw this coming?" 

"I believe he did, and set in motion the means to protect the young hero." The blue scarab was glowing brightly.

"Will he awaken knowing…" The man in question had been a friend, a teammate. 

"It is different for them all. I believe him of sound enough mind to survive even the insanity of knowing." The man in the hat and long coat reached out, and the stone leaped to his hand. "Better he not awaken here. I believe it has the power needed now."

"The Egyptians crafted a powerful talisman there."

"Ahh, but they merely learned from nature, for the Beetle is a symbol of Rebirth."

`~`~`~`~`

Barbara was slowly growing accustomed to not hearing Dinah come in at the beginning of night, carrying food or otherwise. She missed it, but she understood, on some levels. She did not understand what Hal Jordan had said that was more persuasive than her own wishes, though. 

She heard a small sound in her living room, and went to investigate, as no alarms had been tripped; perhaps it was one of the other ladies coming to check on her physically for a change.

When she saw a man of imposing height dressed in an archaic long coat, a fedora, and a strange medallion on the breast of his suit, she tensed. Like most of the Bat Clan, she had a healthy aversion to magic.

"Miss Gordon, a gift, for you." He held out a blue stone, and her eyes widened upon recognizing it. 

"The Blue Scarab! How? Where is Jaime?" She rolled forward to accept it, inspecting it fully. The Phantom Stranger took a small step back.

"Jaime is not the true possessor of the Scarab's magic." He inclined his head, tipping his fingers to his hat before he vanished.

"Why bring me…?" She inspected the stone, noting it was unusually warm.

"ORACLE!" The cry for assistance made her toss the stone toward the couch, and hastily roll back into the operation center, going into business mode.

`~`~`~`~`

The first thing he noted was the cold. The second thing was that it was not the dank, damp cold of the place he had last been. Most importantly, there was no sharp pain where the bullet had entered. The hum of electronics soothed his nerves from that last horror, until he started thinking. Then he sat up, blinking in confusion and fear that somehow Max had brought him back in a ghoulish experiment.

The surroundings did not look like a mad scientist's lab, he noted. Beside him, he found the blue Scarab, and noted with fondness that it was his, the very same thing Dan had given him so long ago. He also saw two important things; he was not dressed, at all, and there was a picture of Jim and Barbara Gordon hanging on the wall.

"Oh shit…."

"What?! Who's there?!" The feminine voice…his heart thumped as he realized, for all this place was unfamiliar to him, it was hers.

"Barbara, I'm not sure how…but it's me, Ted." He stood up and retreated hastily behind the couch, beetle in his hand.

The red head rolled in, taser at the ready, as she stared at him with conflicted emotions. On one hand, she could not believe it, but the other, she truly wanted to.

"Oh my god…" She covered her mouth. "The Phantom Stranger brought me the scarab…" He held it up, showing her. "It has to be you…." 

"The one and only, Rolling Thunder," Ted told her. "Uhh…the scarab kind of forgot my clothes…not that I would want to try to get the blood and…oh, I'm sorry, shouldn't say that, huh?"

Barbara had winced, and now she shook her head, laughter and tears both coming. "Oh, Ted, you have been sorely missed," she said, before tossing him a throw. He wrapped it around himself, coming out from his hiding spot. He walked slowly to her, watching in concern as the tears overcame the laughter.

"Don't cry, Babs." He knelt down beside her. "Please. Better or worse, I'm back."

"I didn't listen…"

"Shh…all behind us." He rested his hand on hers, and she grabbed it, pulled him close, and kissed him resoundingly. 

"Don't you ever go off and do something so brave and stupid again!" she told him when she let him go. He sat back on his heels, bemused by her fierceness, the warmth of it.

"If I do, can I have another of those?" he quipped, earning a small smack on the top of his head. "I can tell I'm loved," he added, as her hand stroked over his hair then.

"You have no idea." She was content for the moment, just letting him lay his head on her legs, touching his hair.

Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, had made it back in the way of a True Hero…and Barbara Gordon had been chosen to be his guide in returning to life.


End file.
